Editor,
Driving northwest, I rounded the curve at 6600 Sills Road, then swerved onto the shoulder and into the ditch, barely avoiding a head-on collision with a van that had crossed the double yellow line to dodge ruts and potholes created 12 days ago by Whidbey’s County Road Department.
Sills Road residents don’t understand why our road crews are “fixing” a road that doesn’t have holes or major cracks. Now as we wait for paving crews, we drive a dangerous obstacle course of rectangular cutouts and excavated pits of open asphalt. “Waiting” is the problem. Northwest rain creates mud in the trenches where vehicle tires dredge out ruts and large holes. If road patching is needed the crews should cut, prep and patch the same day like they do in Seattle and other communities. Island crews can do it in one day but they seldom do.
Bigger potholes, those soaked and reamed out by traffic during the wait time, require more fill. Same-day patching would save time, the cost of material, and the expense of bringing in flaggers and heavy equipment twice. The present practice costs more, makes a mess of our vehicles, leaves an unsafe roadbed for cyclists and motorcycles, and creates dangerous conditions for drivers.
The same is true for chip sealing. Bayview and French roads were unfinished for weeks. Gravel was left for drivers to embed into the bitumen over time. Residents along chip-sealed roads have dust and grime in their homes. Drivers with respiratory concerns avoid these routes because dust billows in through their car vents. Vehicle wheel wells are coated with liquid asphalt. Undercarriages and lower portions of doors are pock-marked from kicked-up gravel.
I checked with five transportation departments from Ohio to California. Unlike our county road department, they distribute a layer of hot asphalt (bitumen), spread crushed (not round) rock, and follow up the next day with heavy rollers to embed the rock, then sweep and collect it immediately. When it comes to roadwork, Island County could use a lesson from them on how to avoid hazardous road conditions and better serve our community.
JOANN KANE
Clinton
